Don Connelly, Soft Skills Trainer for Financial Professionals

Don A. Connelly is a speaker, motivator and educator for financial advisors. During a career of more than 40 years on Wall Street, he worked for nearly 19 years as company spokesperson, senior vice president and senior marketing officer for Putnam Investments, in addition to holding positions as a stock broker, financial planner, branch manager, wholesaler and national sales manager. As founder and CEO of Don Connelly 24/7, he provides timely and provocative sales ideas to thousands of financial professionals, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

New Advisors: Learning to Cope with These Five Things Will Help You Persevere

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Outstanding advisors possess sustainability; they have the ability to overcome mental and emotional obstacles in a way that average advisors can’t. Simply passing the relevant exams won’t help you develop these coping skills – they don’t get taught in training. So, if you too want to reach the top of your profession, you’ll need to develop a tough mindset and overcome difficulties that others cannot.

Here are five things you’ll frequently encounter in your practice that you need to cope with to stay the course.

The Greatest Challenge Any Client (and Therefore You) Will Ever Face

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Sticking with the plan despite tough market conditions is the greatest challenge both you and your clients will face. That sudden drop in cabin pressure when the markets fall is the acid test of your relationship building skills. If you aren’t prepared ahead of time, neither will your clients be.

Whether your clients will stay the distance depends on you.

Four Common Client Objections and How to Counter Them

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There’s so much uncertainty surrounding investing that people postpone the decision. Clients and prospects can think of a multitude of reasons not to invest: Whether it’s tax time, retirement looks too far away or they want to buy a new car or kitchen.

However, when clients say they’ll ‘think it over’ it doesn’t mean they’ve found a good reason to delay investing; perhaps it means they don’t trust you enough yet, perhaps they don’t understand what you said or perhaps you simply haven’t convinced them to act. So how do you get them to do the right thing and start securing their financial futures?

Here are some common objections you’ll face – and how to answer them.

How to Develop a Repeatable Process

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If you want to make your life easier and become a truly elite advisor, make sure you have repeatable processes in place. This especially applies to tasks such as prospecting, presenting, following up and servicing your accounts. Remember: Repeatable processes produce repeatable results so make your goal consistency, not perfection.

In this post we’ll look at some practical steps you can take to incorporate repeatable processes into your working life.

5 Reasons to Always Strive for Excellence

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If you want to become an elite advisor, you need to strive for excellence in everything you do. And this requires an outstanding work ethic. Great advisors ply their trade until they become proficient. They understand that striving for excellence is an ongoing process; that there’s always room for self-improvement and it is excellence that will separate you from non-achievers. Here are some reasons to develop the habit of excellence.

Help Clients Understand Why They’re Paying You a Fee

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Before you can convince your clients of your worth, you need to convince yourself of your own value. Always remember your fees reflect the five-star service you can offer. That’s what makes you stand out in an increasingly commoditized industry.

Here are some ways to help you communicate your value – both to yourself and to your clients.

When to Call Clients to Keep Your Relationship Strong

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It can be tricky determining how often to contact your clients. While regular communication is key to maintaining a healthy relationship, calling clients every week or month probably isn’t feasible.

At the outset, aim to understand each client’s preferences and their expectations communication-wise and make sure it fits your business plan. Some clients will be more interested in the investment process per se and will want to hear your thoughts and recommendations on a more regular basis. You may also find that as time goes on and your clients learn to trust you, they will be more relaxed and require fewer calls.

However, there are certain times when calling your clients is the right thing to do regardless of any prior agreement. Here are some key occasions when you should pick up the phone and speak to clients.

Don’t Let Clients’ Concerns Escalate: Tackle Issues Head on

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Meeting your clients’ expectations is the least you can do – it’s simply part of your job – so don’t expect to get a pat on the back for it. If you want to retain clients for the long term, you need to step up your level of service way beyond this and be more proactive than other advisors. Offer your clients a heroic standard of service by taking ownership of their problems before they become detrimental to your business.

Here are four ways to ensure you keep things on track.

Believe in Your Value and Never Do These Three Things with Clients

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When prospecting see yourself as the professional consultant you are. Your job is of the utmost importance – you’re there to safeguard your clients’ financial future. It doesn’t get much more important than that and you are due respect.

So, if you find you’re fighting to win new clients, rushing through a presentation or apologizing for asking for the order, take a step back. Understand that you add value to your clients’ lives. Because of you people will be able to retire comfortably or get their kids through college. Your clients should feel privileged to do business with you, not the other way around.

Here are three things to avoid doing with clients.

Focus on What’s Important

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If you want to reach the top of your profession as a financial advisor, you need to focus on the basics. Dedicate your time to prospecting, asking for commitments and managing client relationships. Success will only come your way if you think gathering assets rather than DOL rulings and falling fees. So stop getting distracted. If you want to build a successful business, focus on what’s important.

Here are six things to focus on, starting today.

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Articles by: Don Connelly